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Researchers from the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed fast cooling technology of gadget components using crystals.
Components such as, for example, processors in computers, batteries in electric vehicles, various chips, when operating at full capacity get seriously hot. Their compact placement in a narrow space contributes to the accumulation of heat, which takes time to dissipate.
Typically, heat dissipation is accelerated by fans or liquid cooling systems. However, all these options require additional space and consume electricity. In the new development, American researchers decided to use a hexagonal boron nitride crystal that converts heat into directional waves that propagate at a higher speed.
In most materials, heat is transferred by vibrations of atoms called phonons. Phonons collide with each other and transfer energy. However, the speed of energy traveling through such materials is usually too slow. Because of this, heat can accumulate and cause electronic components to overheat.
Instead, the developers decided to use a mechanism of the hexagonal boron nitride crystal known as hyperbolic phonon polariton modes. This is a special type of oscillation in the crystal in the form of electromagnetic waves.
This ensures much faster heat removal than traditional heat dissipation technologies, because energy in the form of radiation propagates at a much higher initial speed.
The scientists conducted the experiment by placing the crystal on a gold substrate. They heated the gold substrate, which brought the phonon polariton modes into a state of excitation and allowed them to quickly remove heat from the area between the crystal and the substrate. According to the developers, the heat removal process was 10-100 times more efficient.
«This method is incredibly fast We see heat moving in ways that were previously thought to be impossible in solid materials», — says Will Hutchins, author of the study.
The developed technology can be used with other combinations of materials and open the way to creation of cooling systems for a wide range of electronic devices This means faster AI-powered computers and data centers, more durable medical devices, and less heat in modern computers.
The results of the study are published in the journal Nature
Source: New Atlas